Kemerovo region - Kuzbass - a subject of the Russian Federation,
located in the south of Western Siberia, part of the Siberian Federal
District, is part of the West Siberian economic region.
The
Kuznetsk coal basin (Kuzbass) is located on the territory of the region.
The Kemerovo region was formed on January 26, 1943 by the Decree of
the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR by separating it from
the Novosibirsk region[10]. The area of the region is 95,725 km²;
According to this indicator, the region ranks 34th in the country.
The region's population is 2,568,238 people (2023), population
density is 26.83 people/km² (2023). The majority of the population lives
in cities, and there are large areas with low population density.
Proportion of urban population: 87.33% (2022).
The Kemerovo
region is the most densely populated part of Siberia and the Asian part
of Russia. Russians make up more than 90% of the population. Among the
small peoples living in the region are the Shors, Teleuts and Siberian
Tatars, who have preserved their cultural traditions.
The
administrative center and largest city is Kemerovo, which has a
population of 549,362 people. Together with nearby municipalities of the
region, it forms the Kemerovo agglomeration with a population of more
than 1.3 million people.
The second largest city in the region is
Novokuznetsk. Population - 537,480 people (2021). It is the center of
the Novokuznetsk agglomeration with a population of more than 1.1
million people.
The region is located in the southeast of Western
Siberia, occupying the spurs of the Altai and Sayan Mountains.
The length of the region from north to south is almost 500 km, from west
to east - 300 km. It borders in the northeast and north with the Tomsk
region, in the northeast - with the Krasnoyarsk Territory, in the east -
with the Republic of Khakassia, in the south - with the Altai Republic,
in the southwest - with the Altai Territory, in the northwest - with
Novosibirsk region.
Administratively it consists of 20 cities and
18 districts.
Kemerovo is the capital of Kuzbass. It
would be strange to say that this is an industrial city, since industry
is everywhere in Kuzbass, but in the case of Kemerovo the industrial
character is especially tangible and visible. Dotted with factory
chimneys and shrouded in smoke, the city is cozier than it seems from
the outside: there is even room for pine trees and rocks, and it’s worth
coming here to visit Krasnaya Gorka - a small and very interesting
museum-reserve dedicated to the formation of Kuzbass industry. In the
center of Kemerovo there is a nice Soviet-era building, the only road
connecting Western Siberia with Eastern Siberia passes through the city,
and on top of that it has its own airport.
Novokuznetsk is the antipode of Kemerovo, a
city not of miners, but of metallurgists. Novokuznetsk has preserved
monuments from different eras and will easily enter the top ten most
interesting cities in Western Siberia. Old Kuznetsk contains an
18th-century fortress and fragments of a district town, while new
Kuznetsk, the “garden city” praised by Mayakovsky, contains one of the
best ensembles of Soviet architecture in the country. Add to this the
presence of an airport, good railway connections, and the proximity of
the Kuznetsk Alatau - and Novokuznetsk becomes the best base for
traveling in the south of the Kemerovo region.
Anzhero-Sudzhensk is the only city in Kuzbass
located on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Passengers of trains passing here
would hardly think of making a stop in the city, and not all
Trans-Siberian trains have the Anzherskaya station on their schedule,
but those travelers who still decide to stop by here will be rewarded
with curious monuments of provincial constructivism, including Anzhero
-Sudzhensk even bypasses Leninsk-Kuznetsky.
Leninsk-Kuznetsky,
formerly Kolchugino, is the city of the first Kuzbass mine. Located 80
km south of Kemerovo, it looks like one of the many “tentacles” of the
huge Kuzbass agglomeration. Leninsk is interesting for a couple of
pre-revolutionary monuments, buildings in the constructivist style, a
good mining museum and large memorials of the Kolchugin uprising against
Kolchak’s army that happened here in 1919. The city stands at the fork
in the Kemerovo-Novokuznetsk highway and one of the roads leading to
Novosibirsk. If you travel around Kuzbass, you will almost certainly
find yourself nearby.
Mariinsk is the
pearl of the Kemerovo region. It is far from neighboring Tomsk, but in
its region it is the only truly historical city, where the number of
merchant mansions and carved wooden houses is in the dozens, and the
pre-revolutionary building is not something unique. Mariinsk is
conveniently located on the Trans-Siberian Railway and will also be an
inevitable transit point for everyone traveling east by road. Its
infrastructure leaves much to be desired, but the overall flavor and
attractions are worth staying in the city for at least a couple of
hours.
Mezhdurechensk is a mining town in the mountains.
Architecturally, it is not very remarkable, unless you are interested in
the huge ensemble of the center, built in the 1950s. at the end of
Stalinist architecture, but in terms of landscape the city has
practically no equal: it is truly located between two rivers and is
surrounded on all sides by mountains. In the vicinity of Mezhdurechensk
there is a ski resort and dozens of viewpoints, this is the base for
visiting the Kuznetsk Alatau massif, which is crossed by the railway
leading east to Khakassia.
Prokopyevsk is the northern satellite
of Novokuznetsk, the geographic center of the Kuzbass agglomeration.
Here is the best ensemble of Stalinist architecture among the regional
centers of the Kemerovo region, supplemented by several older monuments
and quite decent infrastructure. Along with Leninsk-Kuznetsky and
Anzhero-Sudzhensk, this is one of those places that in the context of
Kuzbass can be called historical.
Yurga is the northern gate of
the Kemerovo region, a city on the Trans-Siberian Railway, where the
roads leading to Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and Tomsk converge. Yurga itself
is of little interest, and you will find yourself here only because of a
transfer, during which you can explore several original newly built
temples. More interesting places begin outside the city - these are the
Tutal rocks on Tom and the old village at the station of the same name.
Kuznetsky Alatau Nature Reserve
By plane
There are two airports in the Kemerovo region - in
Kemerovo itself and in Novokuznetsk. Both of them will not offer you
anything other than a couple of Moscow flights, and at fairly high
prices, since demand on these routes greatly exceeds supply. You can
also get to the Kemerovo region through Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Barnaul.
Krasnoyarsk airport is located a little further, and even to Mariinsk it
will take you a whole day to get from there.
By train
The
Trans-Siberian Railway runs through the Kemerovo region. The main
stations of the region: Yurga, Taiga, Anzherskaya (Anzhero-Sudzhensk),
Mariinsk.
By car
The federal highway M53 “Baikal” passes
through the territory of the region, which connects the settlements of
the Kemerovo region with Novosibirsk in the west and Krasnoyarsk in the
east.
The Mokhovo 2 site in the Kuznetsk Basin belongs to the Upper and Middle Paleolithic. The Late Paleolithic includes the Shumikha-I workshop, the Bedarevo I, II, II, Shorokhovo-I, Ilyinka-II, Sarbala, Voronino-Yaya sites, and a stationary settlement on the Kiya River, near the village of Shestakovo. The Mesolithic includes the sites Bolshoy Berchikul-1, Bychka-1, Pechergol-1, the Neolithic includes the sites Bolshoi Berchikul-4, Smirnovsky Ruchey-1, Pechergol-2, Bychka-1, the late layer. The Bronze Age includes settlements and burial grounds of the Samus, Andronovo, Korchazhkino, “Andronoid” Elov, Irmen cultures, most of the images of the Pritomye pisanitsa, including the most famous archaeological monument of Kuzbass - the Tomsk pisanitsa. The Iron Age is represented by the Bolsherechensk, Tagar, Kulai, and Tashtyk cultures.
During the early Middle Ages (VI-XI centuries), the historical
development of ancient societies was closely connected with events in
the steppes of Central Asia. During the existence of the First (552-630)
and Second (679-742) Turkic Khaganates, the traditional culture created
by the Kulai continued to develop on the territory of the Kuznetsk
region. Changes within it were associated with an increase in the share
of cattle breeding in the economic activity of the population, with
further social stratification of society. The history of this people is
reconstructed based on materials from excavations of burial grounds near
the villages of Saratovka, Shabanovo, Vaganovo, and treasures found in
the vicinity of Elykaev, Terekhin, Egozov, Lebedey. Among the
archaeological finds of that era, a number of items appear, especially
in weapons and horse equipment, which are characteristic of the Central
Asian Turks. Through the Turks, the Kuznetsk population maintained
contacts with China and the states of Western Asia. In particular,
Chinese coins were found in the burials. One of the features of
historical development at this time was that the local population was
constantly influenced by the nomads of the Central Asian steppes.
Ultimately, this will lead to the complete borrowing of their culture
and language. In the 9th–10th centuries, the situation on the territory
of the Kuznetsk-Salair region changed significantly. In 840, the Kirghiz
created a huge power. This was preceded by long wars with the Uyghurs,
who were finally defeated. Around the same time, the early Kimak state
arose in the upper reaches of the Irtysh River. The border between them
and the Kyrgyz ran along the ridges of the Kuznetsk Alatau.
According to experts, tribes lived on the territory of the Kuznetsk
region, which in written sources are known as Kipchaks. At the beginning
of the 11th century, a significant part of the Kipchaks were forced to
leave their lands and go far west to the Eastern European steppes. A
little later in the Russian chronicle they are first mentioned as
Polovtsian tribes. The Mongolian period (XIII-XIV centuries) in the
Kuznetsk-Salair landscape region has been studied very poorly. The main
historical events of this time took place in the steppe and were
associated with the formation of the Chingizid empire. The rule of the
Mongols over the population of the region was formal, so it was unlikely
to cause any significant changes in material and spiritual culture. This
is evidenced by archaeological sources of monuments near the villages of
Ur-Bedari, Musokhranovo, Toropovo. According to anthropologists, the
population of the Mongol era combined Caucasoid and Mongoloid racial
features in appearance. This once again allows us to assert that the
local line of historical development and the external one, associated
with the Turkic world, were in interaction for a long time. There was no
cardinal withdrawal. But ultimately, the process of Turkization of the
local population was completed. When the Kuznetsk land was included in
the Russian state, the Russians were met here by indigenous peoples who
spoke the Turkic language.
The territory of the modern Kemerovo region was inhabited several
thousand years ago.
In 1618, in the Russian kingdom, during the
reign of Mikhail Fedorovich, in the south of the future region, at the
confluence of the Kondoma and Tom rivers, the Siberian Cossacks founded
the Kuznetsk fort (now the city of Novokuznetsk) to protect Russian
lands from the Khongorai, Mongolian and Dzungarian nomads. This is the
oldest settlement in the Kemerovo region. Already at the beginning of
the 17th century, the first Russian settlers appeared here: peasants,
hunters, missionaries. In the language of the indigenous people, the
Shors, the word “Cossack” often means “Russian”. Siberia did not know
serfdom; Russian settlers were actively engaged in taiga crafts, traded,
and founded villages. In 1620, the fort was moved to a high terrace on
the right bank of the Tom River. Now the Kuznetsk Fortress is located
there. Until the mid-19th century, it protected the Russian population
of the Tom Valley from raids by nomadic Kirghiz and Dzungars, and
potential threats from Qing China.
The second “oldest” city was
Mariinsk, which arose as the Russian village of Kiyskoye on the Moscow
highway in 1698. Gradually, the village was filled with people from
Central Russia, Ukraine and Transbaikalia. In 1856, the village received
the status of a city called “Kiiskoye”. In 1857, the city was renamed
Mariinsk in honor of the namesake of Empress Maria Alexandrovna
(1824-1880), wife of Alexander II. By the middle of the 19th century,
the city's population was 3.6 thousand people. In the summer of 1891,
Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich visited Mariinsk.
In the Russian
Empire in 1721, the Siberian ore explorer Mikhailo Volkov discovered a
“burnt mountain” (burning coal seam) on the banks of the Tom River,
thereby becoming the discoverer of Kuznetsk coals.
The toponym
“Kemerovo”, according to Kuzbass scientists, goes back to the Turkic
word “kemer”, meaning “belt”, “mountain slope”. Here, near the villages
of Krasnaya and Kemerovo, coal deposits were found.
Noticeable
industrial development of the region occurred at the end of the 18th
century. The first to show interest in the development of Kuznetsk coal
was the Ural industrialist A. N. Demidov. He built the
Kolyvano-Voskresensky factories, which later, together with the adjacent
mineral resources, became the property of the Romanov imperial house.
From that time on, most of Kuzbass, which became part of the Altai
mountain district, was under the jurisdiction of the Cabinet of His
Imperial Majesty.
In the 18th century, industrial enterprises
appeared: the Tomsk ironworks, the Gavrilovsky and Guryevsky silver
smelting plants, the Sukharinsky and Salairsky mountain mines.
Large distances from the central regions of the Russian Empire remained
a serious obstacle to the development of the region. The situation
changed during the period of early Russian industrialization. Throughout
the 19th century, the territory of the modern region was part of the
Tomsk province - Kuznetsk and Mariinsky districts. In connection with
the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, Kuzbass industry
experienced rapid development.
After the October Revolution, Kuzbass became part of the West
Siberian Territory, then the Novosibirsk Region.
The
post-revolutionary period is characterized by the transition to planned
economic management, the creation of the Ural-Kuzbass industrial
complex, the development of the coal, metallurgical and chemical
industries of Kuzbass: the Kemerovo Coke Plant and the Kuznetsk
Metallurgical Plant are being built, and many new mines are appearing.
Near industrial enterprises, workers' settlements are built, which very
quickly receive the status of cities: Prokopyevsk, Kiselevsk, Osinniki,
Tashtagol, Kaltan, Mezhdurechensk and others.
Up to 62% of the
builders of the Kuznetsk plant were dispossessed peasants and prisoners.
In addition, Kuzbass became a place of mass expulsion of Kazakhs and
Kyrgyz. In the 1930s, famine raged in the region, and cases of
cannibalism were reported.
During the Great Patriotic War, the
Kemerovo region became the main supplier of coal and metal. More than 50
thousand tanks and 45 thousand aircraft were made from Novokuznetsk
steel. The equipment of 71 enterprises was evacuated to Kuzbass from the
occupied areas, most of which remained in Kuzbass. The war doubled the
capacity of Kuzbass.
In 1943, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
of the USSR, by decree of January 26, decided to separate Kuzbass from
the Novosibirsk region and create the Kemerovo region on its territory
with the administrative center in the city of Kemerovo. The new region
included 17.5% of the territory of the Novosibirsk region, 9 out of 12
cities of regional subordination, 17 out of 20 working villages, 23 out
of 75 districts. The population of the Kemerovo region amounted to 42%
of the total population of the Novosibirsk region.
The rapid
growth of the region in the post-war and subsequent years led to the
appearance of new cities on the map of Kuzbass: Polysayevo,
Mezhdurechensk, Osinniki, Taiga and others. During the period of the
late 1940s - early 1970s, a system of higher professional education in
the region was formed: in the northern capital of Kuzbass the following
were opened: a pedagogical institute (since 1974 - Kemerovo State
University), a medical institute (since 1995 - Kemerovo State Medical
Academy) , Kemerovo Mining Institute, later transformed into a
polytechnic (now Kemerovo State Technical University), Kemerovo
Technological Institute of Food Industry; Kemerovo Higher Military
Command School of Communications; Kemerovo State Institute of Culture.
Science developed, and as a result, in 1990, the Kemerovo Scientific
Center was formed on the basis of scientific institutions in the region.
In the 1950s, the Kemerovo Regional Philharmonic was formed, the
Kemerovo Regional Children's Library was opened, branches of the Union
of Journalists and the Union of Artists of the RSFSR were created, and
the Kemerovo Television Center was put into operation (the first
broadcast took place on April 22, 1958). The buildings of drama theaters
were built in the cities of Prokopyevsk (1956), Kemerovo (1960),
Novokuznetsk (1963) and an operetta theater in the city of Kemerovo.
Since 1962, a puppet theater began operating in the regional center. In
1973, the buildings of two circuses were built (in the cities of
Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk). By the end of the 1980s, there were six
theaters, 954 club institutions, 24 museums, and more than 1,200
libraries in Kuzbass.
In 1989, the Kemerovo region was one of the
centers of the strike movement.
The events that took place in the 1990s completely changed the course
of further development not only of Kuzbass, but of the entire country.
The regional economy, like the economy of the entire country, has moved
from a pre-crisis state to a state of deep systemic crisis. In
conditions of a shortage of funds, major repairs were replaced by
maintenance. This was accompanied by the closure of individual
enterprises.
An important content of the transition to the market
was the process of privatization of state property. By the beginning of
1997, only a part of enterprises remained outside the sphere of private
property in the Kemerovo region. Enterprises of the defense complex,
railway transport, gold mining, television, sanitary-epidemiological and
veterinary institutions remained in federal ownership. The regional
property included most of the pharmacies, printing industry enterprises,
a number of motor transport enterprises, poultry farms, and so on.
Schools, hospitals, clinics, basic public utilities, residential
buildings and other social and cultural facilities remained in the
municipality.
Along with the city, new forms of economic
organization also appeared in the Kuzbass village. They were implemented
according to the decree of the President of Russia of October 27, 1993
“On the regulation of land relations and the development of agrarian
reform in Russia,” which allowed private ownership of land and
recognized diverse forms of management on land.
In the 1990s, the
region’s economy fell into decline, but by the end of the decade there
were positive changes, primarily in the development of the coal
industry; attention was paid to the development of open-pit coal mining
as more efficient and safe. In 1999 alone, 15 coal mining enterprises
were put into operation; in total, over the past 21 years, 11 new mines
and 16 coal mines have been put into operation.
Since 2001, OJSC
Gazprom has been implementing the pilot program “Pilot-industrial
production of methane from coal seams in the Kuznetsk basin.”
Another new industry for the Kemerovo region is oil refining: in 2003,
the creation of oil refineries began.
In February 2010, the coal
gas mine was officially launched, and the production and use of methane
from coal seams began.
In the field of agriculture in 2000-2007,
the focus was on updating the fleet of agricultural machinery. In 2007,
for the first time in the last 40 years, 1 million 680 thousand tons of
grain were harvested.
From 1991 to 1997, the governor was Mikhail
Kislyuk. Since 1997, with a break, the Kemerovo region has been headed
by Aman Tuleyev.
On April 1, 2018, Sergei Tsivilev was appointed
acting governor of the region. V.V. Putin accepted the resignation of
Aman Tuleyev in connection with the tragedy in the Winter Cherry
shopping center, which occurred on March 25, 2018. 60 people died in the
tragedy.
On March 27, 2019, by Decree of the President of the
Russian Federation, the subject of the Russian Federation received a new
name as the Kemerovo region - Kuzbass, while the Kemerovo region and
Kuzbass become equivalent names for the region.
On March 2, 2022,
the current governor Sergei Tsivilev initiated an action to support
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “KuZbass - For the Motherland.” In the
campaign, the name of the region in official materials of the regional
government will now be written using the capital Latin letter “Z”,
“KuZbass”. The use of the Latin letter "Z" in adjectives is optional.